Pack the House On Pocket Change

You don’t need to spend a ton of dough on marketing to attract the type of clientele that aligns with the image of your bar or nightclub. This is especially true when you consider that the latest advances in email, social media and event marketing technologies have proven to be three of the lowest costing, yet most effective ways to attract the right customers.

Though as you probably know, it’s not the tools that pack the house, it’s the way that they’re used. To help you hone your skills, here are some tips on maximizing how you use these three marketing vehicles.

Email Marketing: It costs only pennies to send an email update to subscribers letting them know about your latest news and events. What’s more, since it’s permission based – meaning the sender has asked for the privilege to contact the customer – you already know your audience is primed to hear from you and is more likely to open your email.

As you write the content for your emails, think about segmenting your subscriber list by interests, demographics and other categories. This way, you can send more targeted messages to subgroups of subscribers based on their particular interests. The more targeted the message, the more likely the readers are to forward it to their friends.

If you want to attract even more eyeballs, repost your messages on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and other social networks.

Social Media: You already know how inexpensive it is to set up a social media presence but it takes a bit more than creating a profile to grow your following and attract the right audience. If you want to be successful using social media, think about the tools as a way to engage customers.

The next time you log on, imagine you’re at a cocktail party. How boring would it be if you approached a stranger and held a one sided conversation trying to sell them on your business? That’s what it feels like when your social media followers are only blasted with messages about your latest specials and events.

Instead, respond to their questions and comments, ask them more questions, find out what they like, and repost their messages. You can also use social media to run contests and take short polls and surveys. This generates greater awareness for your business in a fun way while getting better insight into the interests of your target audience.

Event Marketing Tools: The cost of printing flyers and posters can quickly add up so why not tap into the online tools for event marketing that can cut costs and improve the customer’s experience.

Online event marketing tools can help you set the vibe through an event homepage, automat registration and payment, and even seamlessly check in attendees through a mobile app, saving yourself a lot of legwork, giving your audience a better overall experience.

All of these marketing vehicles have proven to attract the right customers to a business without requiring hefty monetary investments. If you’re familiar with some of these tools yet perhaps need a refresh on applying them to your bar or nightclub, consider attending a free online or in person workshop.